Iron Man: The Second Chance
by Yeoyou
Summary: Tony Stark is running out of time if he wants to find a way to save his own life, win over Pepper's heart and outwit the devious Senator Logan Stark.
1. Prologue

**Authors: **Joanne M Delany and Yeoyou  
**Rating:** P18  
**Spoilerwarning: **Iron Man 1 Movieverse. The fanfiction is an alternative for the second Iron Man movie so contains spoilers for that film as well.

**Prologue**

_T- 1 day, 2 hours, 42 seconds_

Pepper stood in front of her house, drew the paper of the little package away and stared at the broken reactor in her hands. She only spotted the notice tucked between the brown folds after a moment, picked it out of the chaos and read the few words.  
It hit her like a punch in the face and she had to lean against the door frame to keep from falling apart.  
Tony.  
Tony had been here.  
_Proof that I don't._  
Five little words.  
Why, why had he left this 'present' for her?  
Did he want to tell her how little he cared?  
That her own present had meant nothing to him?  
That _she_ meant nothing to him anymore?  
Or...  
The thought frightened Pepper so much that she hardly dared to think it at all.  
...did he want to threaten her? To warn her? To tell her that she should keep away from him?  
_I don't have a heart. I can break you. Just like that. You. Or Logan._  
Panicking, Pepper turned around but could only see the empty street. Her hands shook and she could barely hold the two reactor halves anymore.  
Hastily she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She leaned against it, shaking. She felt sick and nauseated and the notice's words whispered like shadows into her thoughts.  
He had been here and had left her an unmistakable message. And she was afraid of him.  
Tony Stark was nobody you wanted as your enemy.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

_T-37 days, 7 hours, 23 minutes_

"Tony!" Virginia 'Pepper' Potts called as she entered her boss's work shop at a brisk pace, a black folder tucked under her right arm.  
Stark hated it to be interrupted at boxing. Almost as much as being interrupted while standing in front of the mirror in the morning. It was the same game: Get distracted and you'll likely suffer a defeat.  
Defeat by the opponent. Whoever that might be. Whether it was Happy, who hardly deserved to be called an 'opponent' at all, or _Vanity Fair,_ that caught him with a badly fitting suit. It was always the same. Too many things one had to keep an eye on if one didn't want to slip. Life was hard.  
At first, Tony mused whether he should pretend not to hear Pepper's call. He was, after all, just dealing Happy a nice, hard blow against the chest. And sometimes, his overly eager assistant deserved to be ignored. Especially when she disturbed him at things he didn't want to be disturbed at. Looking into the mirror, boxing and...other things.  
At an instant, he changed the direction of the blow and hit Happy's cheekbone instead of his chest. Tony's driver uttered a groan and stumbled backwards.  
Victory in the first round.  
No effort.  
Just as effortlessly as Tony managed to look good in front of his mirror in the morning. Just a snip of the fingers.  
He was Iron Man after all. A goddamn superhero.  
Tony turned to his assistant, a high-handed grin on his lips.  
Pepper walked up to the ring "I got something here that you should see. Immediately."  
Her boss only rolled his eyes and leaned over the ropes.  
"So, what is it today? An invitation to the White House? I knew they'd come and _beg_ me to visit them sooner rather than later."  
Tony didn't really believe what he said since he had at least enough presence of mind to notice Pepper's less than happy expression. Although...she probably wouldn't even grant him to get a medal for extraordinary services to the country. For his more than heroic deeds. For the creation of the Stark Expo. For...well, for everything that he was.  
No, Pepper wouldn't grant him that. For some reason, Tony couldn't help but think that she was unable to cope with him being Iron Man.  
But why?  
Surely every woman dreamed of being the girlfriend of a superhero?  
Not that Tony was a woman and could really be sure but he had read about it. In the _Vanity Fair_. But only because there had been a big portrait picture of him on the other side. Wow.  
The interviewer had actually had the nerve to ask him: "Mr Stark, you have no family of your own. Your parents are long dead and you also haven't got a girlfriend. Do you ever feel lonely?"  
Tony had just laughed at him and declared with a smug grin "Lonely? Never! People love Iron Man. And women love Tony Stark."  
But inwardly, the journalist had hit a weak point within Tony, deep buried and hidden, without even knowing it.  
The longer he thought about it, the more Tony realised that he was indeed a little lonely. Especially know. Regarding the circumstances.  
He shook his head to get rid off the thought and looked at Pepper whose lips curled up disapprovingly.  
"You're getting sued" she answered brief and succinct. "So if you could change into something more appropriate…you have to get to Washington as soon as possible to make a statement in front of the defense committee."  
The right corner of Tony's mouth twitched but otherwise he kept a straight face.  
"How about a visit without any dramatic climaxes, Pepper? How about 'Hi, Tony, how are you?', 'Have you saved mankind again?' or 'Hey, Tony, you left your underwear at the woman of the _People Magazine_'s place, she'll send it by mail'." He grinned briefly.  
But just as the interviewer had hit him, he himself did just the same with his own words. He hated how his relationship with Pepper had developed. Somehow, they only ever saw each other if one of his enviers thought he had Tony on toast. Which usually proved too much to swallow for that person.  
But it wasn't as it used to be anymore, how it was when he sat in his workshop, trying to find an alternative for nuclear energy and she brought him a coffee every now and then. Just like that. He didn't even have to ask her for it.  
Tony pushed that thought successfully to the side, too.  
"You know, Tony, ever since your wonderful Coming-out, I've just had twice as much to do." Apparently, Pepper still hadn't forgiven him. She knit her eyebrows and stared at him angrily while holding out the folder.  
But Tony just continued looking at her and didn't move a finger to accept it.  
"_Coming-out_? Nicely phrased. People indeed are interested in me as in America's first gay since then."  
Maybe it had been unwise, stupid, to trumpet his identity in front of all the press.  
On the other side: He just wasn't a man of secrets. That was the key to his success. One had to make oneself interesting to win others over. And his 'coming-out', as Pepper had called it, surely had made him look damn interesting.  
But unfortunately not just for women, the press and the headlines.  
He had also become quite the brightly painted target for enviers and the Senate.  
He tilted his head. "Come on, Pepper. At least say 'Good morning, Tony'."  
Of course she couldn't be mad with him when he looked at her like that. Surely she would remonstrate with him later but now she smiled involuntarily and said in her best schoolgirl manner "Good morning, Tony. How are you today?"  
Tony almost sighed when he saw her smiling.  
He'd clearly won that round. He didn't like it when she worried about him.  
It's a good thing that you don't know what I know, he thought bitterly.  
So good.  
"Excellent, Miss Potts." His grin got wider.  
The perfect mask for the emptiness inside of him. Irony. That, which had saved his life, demanded it back, piece by piece.  
"I would feel even better though if you had just come to see me and not to bring bad news." He had still tilted his head but had taken the folder out of her hand by now. It weighed heavy and he could imagine what they wanted of him.  
He wouldn't give it to them. He had no reason. Now less than ever. Why should he destroy Iron Man seeing that he would eliminate himself soon enough. Just like that, without any summons. Without the Senate. Just on his own.  
Heroes weren't born, they were built.  
They also didn't die, they were annihilated. Slowly. Inexorably. They broke.  
"They want the suit." Pepper explained even before Tony had opened the folder. She knew that he wouldn't want to read it anyway. That was what Tony appreciated about Pepper, she sensed that all that bureaucratic drivel of some committee couldn't interest him any more than if a bag of rice toppled over in China. Unless, of course, that bag was turned over by the boot of a terrorist. Then it was a case for Iron Man. Otherwise, only for the rainbow press.  
In regard to committee, it belonged to neither category. It wasn't a case for Iron Man. Certainly not.  
It was a case for Tony Stark and he knew he would win.  
Of course, the shirts and ties were scared shitless that someone could copy the Iron Man suit. But Tony knew better: he was just too good. The test versions that had cropped up so far couldn't even take it on with his first prototype that he had build out of scraps in a cave. Why should that change in the near future? It would take years, maybe decades.  
He wouldn't live long enough to see it. He probably wouldn't even see the next New Year's Eve. Although he often regretted it.  
But he was Iron Man, not the Navy, the Marines or the Air Force. They wanted the suit? They wanted it to protect the country?  
No, the only thing they needed for that was him.  
Tony Stark.  
Iron Man.  
Nobody and nothing else.  
"Your jet is ready so we can take off immediately once you've made freshened yourself up." Pepper startled Tony out of his thoughts.  
"You think they mind if I smell?"  
"Believe me, you make a better impression if you don't. And now hurry up, under the shower, Tony."  
Pepper smiled as her eyes followed him out of the room.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two T – 37 days, 7 hours, 2 minutes

Peep.  
Forty-three.  
Forty-three too much for his liking.  
Tony pressed the bleeding finger to his lips and sucked it for a moment. What difference did it make? The only thing that counted was that the damn number crawled up higher every day, however much he drank of that stuff.  
To delay it was all that he could do. He had done nothing else during the last couple of days than sitting in his workshop and trying out all possible and impossible elements.  
He didn't want to, couldn't, believe that there was no solution.  
His father, Howard Stark, had shown him with every action, taught him with each of his thoughts that there was always a solution. For every problem. And Tony had found them. The older he got the more he had understood how the world worked.  
He had studied the mysteries of chemistry, physics and electro technology, had found the destination of any imaginable starting point. And if he hadn't liked it, he had just changed the goal and taken the direction that he had fancied.  
He had combined elements, created machines, lived perfection.  
He had committed himself to his own will. What he wanted, he did. Regardless whether that was something that he wanted to possess or something that he wanted to achieve.  
Now he had to learn the painful lesson that there was someone, something that didn't obey him. It didn't make any difference how long he shut himself up in his workshop, how long he calculated, tinkered and brooded.  
The only energy source that was powerful enough to keep the electromagnet in his chest running was palladium.  
He had the choice. One last time. He could either give in to the shards of the grenade after all; the shards he had tried to outwit by his superior intellect and technology. Or he could fall victim to his own idea, his own genius and poison himself with the device that kept him alive. It didn't matter. Because this choice would end in something that Tony hadn't planned, that he couldn't control.  
But three weeks ago, he had still felt fine. Of course, Pepper hated him because he had given in to his ego and revealed that he was Iron Man. But he had been able to live it out, to do whatever he pleased, whatever he wanted. He had kicked the world's ass and it had cowered under it.  
Now, all of that seemed very far away, almost as far as the life he had lead before the incident in Afghanistan. Before he had comprehended that it couldn't be his job to destroy humanity and sip a glass of wine while doing so.  
He still remembered that morning, two weeks ago, when he had lost consciousness for the first time, while he had been working at his computer, trying to upgrade his suit.  
He hadn't even noticed how it happened. He only remembered that he had woken up again and how his hands had shaken. Nothing had worked to calm them down again. At least not for a frightening long time.  
Sometimes he wished he were less brilliant and hadn't, after some thinking, found out that the cause must be the palladium. Fortunately, he had found something that could delay the effects. But nothing that could heal him. Perhaps it would have been better if he had never realised it and would have simply not woken up some morning. But Tony had understood that he poisoned himself. There was no point in that.  
It had happened two more times that he had lost consciousness during his desperate search for an alternative power source for the electromagnet. He knew he didn't have much time left.  
Forty-three percent.  
Tony ran his hand over his forehead.  
He sat on a stool in the bathroom, on which he had placed his clothes, wearing a towel around his hips and stared at the two little red figures.  
Not good. Not good at all. He had to calm down otherwise the hearing would be hell.  
Well, he'd manage somehow.  
Somehow it had to go on, on and on. But he had lost control, he couldn't determine it anymore and the constant burning in his veins around the electromagnet persistently reminded him of that.  
"Damn!" he cursed and slowly stood up. In that moment, Pepper knocked impatiently at the door.  
"Say, what are you doing in there so long? We got to get going if we don't want to be too late and set everyone against us from the start."  
Although it would probably make no difference. This hearing was nothing more than a farce and the defense committee under Senator Stern had already made its decision. Stern, most of all, was their enemy. Pepper believed that there were only two possible outcomes. Either, Tony miraculously managed to bring them over to his side or they would demand of him to turn the suit in to the government, i.e. the military. And that, Tony would never do. Pepper knew that much. She didn't want to imagine what would happen in that case. She already fancied Tony and herself taking refuge on some island, persecuted by the American military. Enemies of that state which Tony had wanted to help and protect. But Tony had just laughed at her wild fantasies and assured her that he would sort it out. He was Tony Stark after all.  
He hurried to get into his trousers and glanced one last time into the mirror. He wished he were as secure as he pretended to be. He didn't look well, hadn't slept much and Happy had planted a punch on his face that had resulted in a slight bruise under his right eye which started to swell.  
Sunglasses were the only remedy.  
"Believe me, Pepper, you don't wanna know. Could you bring me some sunglasses out of the wardrobe? Pick whichever you like."  
Pensively, he run his little finger over the dark ramifications that had formed around the electromagnet and grimaced.  
A bit slower, he reached for his shirt and jacket and slipped the little device for controlling the level of blood poisoning into the pocket.  
One had to be prepared.  
Tony could only hope that he would manage to play the Senate out. One could never know.  
Sighing, he pushed his hair back and opened the door.  
Showtime.

Tony automatically stretched out his hand for the glasses that Pepper held out to him and grimaced briefly. Perhaps Happy had hit him a bit harder than usual. Maybe he shouldn't have taunted him "Hey, Happy, you really wanna fight? Don't make us unhappy."  
Or maybe the unpleasant prickle was caused by the palladium.  
In that case, Tony wanted to know it less than ever. And pushed the realisation far back into his mind.  
Challenging, he cocked an eyebrow as he eyed up the sunglasses that Pepper had chosen. A Parisian model, silver frame, dark blue glasses.  
"You have taste." He exclaimed and held them next to his shirt, which was blue as well.  
"Although… aren't they a bit showy? Not my normal style, isn't it?" The corners of his mouth twitched and he couldn't suppress a grin, leaned sexily against the frame of the door, pushed the glasses over his perfectly styled hair and looked at Pepper with a salacious glance.  
"Is Miss Potts going to accompany me to my rendezvous? Come on, Pepper, you've been to worse meetings. _Much_ worse. Remember that one time…where was it?…where this…uh…idiot had to declare in front of all the public that he's a superhero?"  
Pepper tried to keep a straight face but only with temperate success.  
"Yes, I do remember it quite well. I have to say, I never met with a bigger idiot. How fortunate that my boss isn't that bad, right?"  
Her eyebrow and the corners of her mouth twitched almost simultaneously.  
The she got serious again, probably thinking of the upcoming hearing.  
"All right, I'll come with you. It's probably better anyway. Rumours have it that the idiot might be present as well and maybe I'll be needed for damage limitation again."  
"One has to be really careful, idiots never die out." Tony replied and returned Pepper's smile carefully.  
Pepper grinned and answered mischievously "How fortunate that I have a famous superhero by my side for protection."  
Their friendly bantering had become very rare lately. Mostly, something was standing between them. And always, it was Iron Man. Tony didn't feel comfortable at the thought that he had lost more than gained through his captivity in Afghanistan. He kept a tally in his mind. However he tweaked it, he always ended up with the same result.  
+ You've finally realised that manufacturing weapons is not a noble enterprise and started doing something useful with your life.  
- You've realised that your father was wrong in everything he ever taught you.  
+ You're a damn superhero.  
- You've got an ugly magnet in your chest. Not. Sexy.  
+ You're a goddamn superhero. The women love you.  
- Most of the men hate you.  
+ You can save humanity.  
- Humanity doesn't want to be saved.  
+/- You got many enviers. No idea whether that's good or bad.  
+ You're a fucking _superhero_!  
-,-,-,- Pepper hates you.  
Tony grunted inwardly. It was time to go before he racked his genius brains over a tally.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three T-37 days, 4 hours, 13 minutes

Senator Logan Stern forced himself to keep calm. Outwardly, this was only a simple hearing. Only. A simple. Hearing. A very special one, admittedly, but nobody needed to know how important it was for himself. He observed how more and more people assembled in the hall: the press, curious onlookers, the other members of the committee and finally Mr Anthony Stark and his assistant.  
All had come because he had wanted it.  
It had been difficult and he was glad he had managed to get the motion through at all. Now he had to use all of his concentration to have this enterprise crowned with success. Stern knew that his arguments were convincing. He had planned and prepared everything with the utmost care. But there was one factor that he couldn't predict.  
And that was Stark.  
He wasn't just a dark horse in Stern's equation but also one that could have everything falling to pieces like a house of cards. Stern didn't like unknowns. He preferred to be the one pulling the strings, knowing which cards to play at which moment. He was good in his job, he intuitively guessed how to deal with people. Most of them were easy to look through and therefore easy to manipulate. But Anthony Stark didn't belong to that category. But maybe it was exactly the tycoon's unpredictability that would play into Stern's hands. After all, who wanted to trust in a superhero who did the whole thing just for a show-off and might give it up after half a year, being too bored by it? Stark, in any case, wasn't known for being very patient or overly pacifistic. '_The merchant of death_'…who really wanted to lay his safety into the hands of a man wearing that name?  
A smug grin scurried over the politician's lips and distorted his good looking, handsome face for a short moment.  
He glanced at his watch. Just a few more minutes and the games would begin…

Tony was as always glad that he was used to flying all over the world and almost being in several places at the same moment. Otherwise, the constant back and forth would surely have driven him crazy.  
Repeatedly, he stealthily glanced at Pepper. Some dubious shirts and ties had appeared next to them and Tony felt ill at ease. He didn't like it to have too many people around him whom he couldn't assess. He almost felt caged in between all the glances that measured, examined and categorised him.  
He was glad when the game finally started, when he could get onto the field.  
Not unexpectedly, the room was already quite crowded. Naturally, everybody wanted to see the superhero, be close to him and get a good look at him.  
By now, Tony had pushed down his sunglasses onto his nose and was glad for the protection they offered him, even if it was a rather hypothetical one.  
As self-assured as possible, he strutted down the aisle, looked neither to the right nor to his left, ignored the calls of the people around him, focusing his attention solely on the elevated platform on which the committee sat. Especially Senator…what's his name? Damn, Pepper had just mentioned it on the flight …ah, thank god, the ape had a name tag: Stern. Pepper had briefed Tony about the senator: still relatively young for his position, very ambitious and apparently with the right people on his side. He'd probably make his way further up in the political ranks soon. He already was very influential and definitely not someone Tony should underestimate. That, at least, was Pepper's opinion.  
Tony didn't like how the Senator looked down at him or rather _on_ him. He principally never liked it when he had to look up. But he was used to people being taller than him after all. Only nobody was bigger than his genius. Never.  
Pepper's warning gaze practically burned his back but he couldn't help himself and raised his arms to wave at the 'crowd' (at a closer look, it only were four rows of geeky superhero comic fans).  
Tony wouldn't have admitted it but he was surprised at how young the Senator actually was, probably even a good deal younger than himself. Well, with men, it was the same as with wine. The older the better, the more refined and the more expensive. And Tony knew quite a deal about wine.  
Pepper had emphatically told him to be careful with Senator Stern. He wouldn't be an easy opponent. After half of her warning words, Tony had stopped listening and concentrated on watching the stewardesses throwing caramel tarts at each other – and then licking them off again. There is just nothing like a bit of distraction and the right company in short uniform skirts.  
And while he had watched the girls, he had thought Tony, that's the way to live your life. If you didn't had to die. What irony that even your great genius can't fend off death. Bat at least you can grab it by its balls and challenge it. So don't run with your tail between your legs but show this Senator Stern who's got what it takes and who doesn't.  
Tony grinned challengingly at the Senator before taking his seat.

Stern's eyebrow crawled upwards as he observed how Stark received the cheers of his 'fans'. The man was vain. Definitely a weak spot. So one had to get hold of him by his pride. Well, they would see how the whole thing would turn out in the end.  
Stern let his gaze wander slowly over the assembled crowd of reporters, 'fans' and other people until absolute silence had settled down in the room. Then he announced with a calm voice: "I now declare today's hearing of the defense committee of the United States of America opened. We have assembled here to discuss the question of whether the weapon suit of Mr Anthony Stark, otherwise known as _Iron Man_ should remain in that person's personal possession or whether it should be turned over to the government as property of the state and the American people."  
Stark put his hands on the table before him and studied his fingernails before he even deemed it necessary to look at Stern directly for the first time.  
"Nice speech, Senator. Maybe we could hurry up the whole thing a bit, I've got to save the world afterwards. Preferably before lunch."  
He couldn't refrain from grinning and fixed his gaze intently at Stern from behind his sunglasses.  
Stern almost fancied to hear how the bell was rung to the first round. Of course it was a public hearing and the committee would come to a conjoint decision but Stern knew that, actually, it was all a play of power between Stark and himself.  
"Well, of course we don't want to steal your valuable time, Mr Stark." He bestowed his opponent with a smile, which showed that he wouldn't be so easily unsettled. The nicest way to show your enemy your teeth was still a smile. "I will call the first witness directly. Colonel James Rhodes, please."

Tony immediately turned in his chair, eyebrows raised, to see how Rhodey entered the hall. That was indeed a …pleasant? unpleasant? surprise.  
Before he stood up to greet his friend with a handshake, he shot a quick glance at Stern. This could really prove interesting. The Senator seemed to know what he was doing. But a lot of men (and women) had said so of themselves and he had been able to handle all of them (mostly).  
So maybe the first point was the Senator's but the round wasn't over yet by far.  
Stern asked the Colonel for his report and Tony leaned back to enjoy the show.  
He saw the self-assurance in the Senator's eyes, just as he had expected. The man probably thought he had managed to surprise Tony. And maybe he had but he knew nothing about his formidable opponent. Tony wasn't Iron Man because he let other people act. He was the one who did the acting. He knew the contents of Rhodey's report already and didn't need to listen. He could observe.  
"The suit of Iron Man is not institutionalised by any national organisation. It's not in the possession of the army and therefore cannot be controlled by the government in any way. Thus…"  
Rhodey hesitated. Tony only rolled a pencil between his forefinger and thumb. Back and forth. Forth and back.  
He was used to waiting. That was what it all came back to. Timing was important. Was Iron Man too late, the victims were dead, and if he was too early, the terrorists wouldn't feel the kick in their sorry asses as they deserved to feel it. Only timing decided over victory or failure. Tony could afford to let the Senator think that he had something in his hand against Tony with Rhodey's report; that he would win. He would only feel the kick all the more in the end.  
"…thus the suit poses a possible threat to the security of this country."  
Tony heard the surprised gasping for breath of the audience, the sound of rustling clothes and squeaking chairs as the reporters automatically leaned forward, eager to know how things would proceed. Rhodey looked more guilt-stricken than ever. He was Tony's friend. He hadn't wanted that. But he had still written the words.  
Stern apparently already tasted victory although he was trying for an appropriately grave expression.  
"Thank you, Colonel Rhodes. Let us now listen to the next witness. Mr Hammer, if you would be so kind…?"  
It is a bit like a circus, Tony thought and continued letting the pencil wander between his fingers. One curiosity after the other. First Stern, the manager of the circus, Rhodey the marionette and now Hammer. The clown.  
Tony's lips pulled back to reveal an openly challenging grin.  
"It would be kind of _you_, Stern, if you could tell me when the _real_ witnesses are called forth. Until then, I can just as well visit your surely exquisite cantina and drink a coffee. Black. With one of those little cookies. Please don't waste our time with these trivialities."  
Tony ran his finger over his beard and didn't stop grinning as Hammer stepped forward.  
"Well, Mr Stark" Stern said with a sneer "even if you might find all of this ridiculous, I'm afraid I can't spare you the process. Unless, you think that the laws of the United States of America don't apply to your illustrious self?"  
Tony was still grinning, it even got a bit wider. More circus. And you really did get some bang for no buck at all. Two lions circling each other, waiting for the right moment. Timing. Or maybe, it was rather one lion and one rat. Only that the rat didn't know that it was one but had still a mane glued to its head.  
"On the contrary, Mr Stern." Tony made a deliberate, well-planned pause in which he tilted his head and put on a grave expression. "I do believe that the law especially applies to me, just as it does to you. However, I also believe that you aren't exactly doing the best to have it executed in asking me to give up being Iron Man. The law, after all, should hold good for the bad guys and since you aren't seeing to it that it does, then _I_ have to do it." A smug grin appeared on Tony's face.  
Stern looked unimpressed. "It's just a question of whether you are the right man for this task. But we will come to that later. First, we should listen to what Mr Hammer has to say."  
Stern was good. Tony had to give him that. At least he didn't let himself be thrown off so easily by Tony's ego games.  
So Tony only shrugged and leaned back in his chair, pointedly bored.  
Hammer stood up and addressed the committee. Simpering, the weapons' manufacturer started listing the different programmes that tried to copy the Iron Man suit.  
Of course the audience reacted worried and a low whispering traversed the hall.  
And that was good.  
All played a perfectly collusive game.  
Stern knew exactly what he was doing, knew which facts to present to take the audience in and draw them to his side. Stern was actor and director at the same time and governed everything. But he had forgotten one major point. The audience's darling was _always_ the improviser.  
Always.  
And nobody was better at that then Anthony Edward Stark.  
Hammer was currently droning dead boring numbers. Tony pretended to be interested, as intended in the script.  
Hidden in his pocket, however, was the key to success. Casually, he drew the minicomputer out and switched through the different points in the menu until he had found the file. He played the game perfectly, seemed affected and concerned, leaned back in his chair, tilted a little and withstood the impulse to put up his feet on the desk, like during a nice but trivial Sunday afternoon movie.  
Hammer's performance was hardly more than that. If anything, it was less.  
"If you excuse me, I'm sure the audience will hardly be sad if I interrupt this _highly_ interesting lecture…"  
Stern's gaze jerked towards Tony with the speed of a falcon. Hammer started stammering, stunned as Tony hacked the computer. Suddenly, videos of the test suits appeared on the screen. All those that Hammer had just mentioned. And all of them seemed to be taken right out of YouTube, showing people falling over their own legs, suits falling apart the moment the test subject moved or whole explosions.  
Tony wanted to laugh but he managed to hold it back. Instead he commented slightly amused but professionally: "Here you can see the programmes Mr Hammer has presented, which, _allegedly_, threaten all the world with a terrorising foreign rule by pimped up Iron Man suits. You see that?" At that moment, one of the prototypes exploded, rotated around its own axis and toppled over with a thunk. "Oh, I hope that didn't hurt!"  
This time, Tony couldn't help himself and chuckled low. He looked first to Hammer and then to Stern with a smug grin before turning his head and throwing a quick glance at Pepper, sitting a few rows behind him, and grinning even wider.  
"Oh sure, that's clearly the 'worldwide danger' Hammer is speaking of. The only thing these countries have to be saved of, are they themselves before they blow themselves up in an attempt to copy my suit. Maybe I should pay a little visit to Hammer Industries in the coming days and save a few lives there. The lives of those poor idiots that get forced to use ill-conceived technology."  
Tony's dark eyes glinted impishly as he got up from his chair.  
"Please, Ladies and Gentlemen, what is this? A damn freak show? Is this supposed to be the threat that everybody talks of? I want to be quite frank with you: I am convinced that, in the next ten, no, maybe fifty years, nobody will be able to build an Iron Man suit. Except myself. It's only due to my analytical genius that I was able to invent an energy source in a cave in Afghanistan that was strong enough to save my life. And it's due to my extraordinary morals that I share this triumph of my mind with you. I save mankind. I save the world. It's no coincidence that the accident rate, the terrorism rate, have declined. So why don't you just let me do my job, my calling, which has been given me by my outstanding intellect and inventiveness? There's no threat coming from the suit's technology because nobody save me has it. And that's the way it should be.  
Ladies and Gentlemen, please don't let yourself be fooled. There's no threat but the one coming from those people who want to deprive you from Iron Man's protection. I think I can justifiably say that Stark Industries…that _I_, have successfully privatised world peace!"  
With these words, which he had shouted out exceptionally loud over the heads of the agitated reporters and onlookers, Tony raised his arms, made casual peace-signs with both hands, grinned, smiled against the upcoming rain of camera flashes and marched, without looking back again and with still raised arms, out of the room.


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

_ T-37 days, 3 hours, 34 minutes_

Stern's features seemed to be set in stone as he listened to Stark's arrogant words. Most of the reporters hurried after the tycoon, hoping to get an interview out of him. It took a fair while until the room had quietened down again and then it was only because it had emptied by more than a half. Ms Potts had stayed, probably to watch the aftermath, as had also some reporters and onlookers. Rhodes and Hammer were still present, too.  
Stern realised that the hearing was lost and closed it reluctantly, grinding his teeth. One of the journos threw a question his way, whether that now meant that the state no longer laid a claim to Stark's suit.  
The Senator bestowed him – and the camera – with a slight shrug and his charming smile.  
"It looks like we can't compete with the public opinion at the moment. So we can only hope that Mr Stark won't lose all interest in being a superhero in half a year and turn to different projects. It is rather regrettable that Mr Stark was unwilling to share his expert knowledge with the Unites States. Even an Iron Man can't be everywhere at once and is therefore unable to protect our country as effective as a whole unit of Iron Men could do it. If you'll excuse me now…Good day."  
He nodded to the reporter and left the room. The first round was Stark's but Stern had never been so stupid as to have only one plan up his sleeve with which he could reach his goals. Stark was a tough opponent but so far, Stern had achieved anything that he had resolved to do. And at some point, Iron Man would do something wrong. Stern was sure of that. And he would be there when the time came.

The Senator stood a good while at the door of the hall since there was no thought of getting through the mob of agitated reporters that crowded before the washing rooms. Apparently, Stark had just vanished there shortly before Stern had arrived and now those ridiculous gregarious animals flocked in front of it and waited. Stern knew that they would stand there forever if Stark thus wanted it. He was too arrogant – and too intelligent – to face up to the reporters' questions now. He would wait for the right moment and make a show again. A one-man-show. He probably knew nothing else, his arrogance and his ego ate up any other thought from the inside.  
"No, we haven't given it up yet. Even a Tony Stark has to realise some time that not everything revolves around him but that the welfare of this state and its people is more important." Stern just got rid of a journalist with these words as he caught the reddish glimmer of Ms 'Pepper' Potts' hair in the crowd.  
During the whole hearing, the woman hadn't moved a muscle but had looked watchful and serious.  
A stone, a rock in the breakers of Stark's ego. Wasn't she fed up by all this? Wasn't she bored by always remaining in the shadows?  
Well….why not?  
Stern approached Stark's assistant quietly from behind. In his eyes, she was a very attractive woman and he earnestly wondered why she wasted her life in running after a man who loved no one but himself. She probably hardly ever had time for herself and Stern mused how long it had been since she had had a day off, a day on which she hadn't to change Tony Stark's diapers.  
A long time, it whispered in his head and slowly, a vague, hushed idea formed in the back of his mind, hidden in the farthest corner. It was still whispering but it got louder, more insistent. Maybe he could use it to his advantage that the woman was lonely. Stern knew that he had his chances with women, tall, muscular and dark haired as he was. He had wit, intelligence and humour and could surely offer this woman more than Stark ever could. Much more.  
The advantage: if he wanted to beat Stark, it couldn't hurt to hold something in the hand against him. And nobody, most assuredly nobody, knew the boss of Stark Industries better than his personal assistant.  
Yes, maybe that was the way to get at Tony Stark: in a roundabout way through his assistant. If Stern didn't manage to really draw the tycoon out and abash him, he might be able to learn more about Stark this way. Not that the Senator was really interested in Stark. What really fascinated him was the man's alter ego.  
Iron Man.  
What power a man must have when the whole world lay open before him, when he was practically invincible, protected by metal. When he could kill or save with bare hands who or what ever he wanted.  
How easy it must be for such a man to become president, minister of defense…Head of State…dominator of the fates of the world.  
And such an invention rested in the hands of a potentially erratic genius of whom Stern didn't know whether he was good or simply insane. That wouldn't do. The suit belonged into the hands of a more responsible man.  
A man like himself.  
Why should you give it to the army after all so that everyone would possess it?  
With this suit, you could rule the world, were respected and feared. That's the way with things that people don't understand.  
No, why should he share?  
Stern had been pondering the idea to keep the suit for himself these last few days. Because then, he would be in charge and had the power, not the Army or Navy or whoever. He. And he knew that it was safe in hands there.  
The problem was, he could hardly just break into Stark's house and steal the suits. Stark was too clever for that, it would never work.  
The cooperation with Hammer was one option, the idiot really believed that it was all about the two of them. Well, should he believe that, you didn't need to enlighten a stupid dog if he kept you safe and out of the cross fire of the media.  
Stern had to find another way. And there was one opening up before him, an especially attractive one that so happened to answer to the name of Virginia Potts.  
She certainly had to be bored by Stark's presence by now and it shouldn't be all too difficult to take her in with a bit of charm and openness.  
Anything Stark could do, Stern surely could do better.

"Miss Potts, if I'm not mistaken?" Stern asked in a pleasing, gentle tone.  
Surprised, Miss Potts turned around as she heard his voice. Her eyebrow twitched a little as she saw the Senator who had just tried to convince the defense committee of Stark's potential danger for America. Of course she hadn't expected Stern to approach her now.  
With a mistrustful glance, she furrowed her brow and nodded.  
Stern smiled and stepped next to her. Miss Potts just barely reached up to his shoulder.  
"I just wondered whether your private jet is big enough to provide enough space for your boss' ego on his way home. I have to give him that, he knows how to draw the eyes of the public on himself."

Points win in the first round. Game, set, match.  
But Tony couldn't win the game. Sooner or later, and in his case rather sooner, he had to climb over the rope and run. Stern would win, would get Tony's invention, unless Tony destroyed it before he died.  
That thought came to him as he was scooping water into his face with both hands and looking into the mirror.  
Of course he had given his planned show and of course the people had loved him. But something inside of him screamed louder than ever before.  
All of this was not real, all of it, couldn't be real?  
Why had he come to this hearing at all? They could have chased him, shot him out of the sky and it wouldn't have mattered. It made no sense to struggle against it anymore. Stern would win. Sooner or later, someone would develop a similar suit for the Army even if Tony destroyed his suit and all the records. And he wouldn't be able to change that Iron Man's name would have vanished in a couple of years, just like he himself.  
He would leave no tracks behind, just an untouched cover of dust that he had dispersed. There was nothing that he could give to the world without betraying himself.  
For a moment, Tony mustered his reflection in the mirror and opened the two topmost buttons of his shirt.  
He had seldom felt so lost; actually, he only remembered that he had often felt irrelevant and inane, too, in the presence of his father. He had tried to be strong, superior, better than everyone else. He had finished school in record time, had made his degree early. He had been the wunderkind.  
But even the infant prodigy couldn't escape death or – what was even worse – oblivion.  
Yes, Tony was afraid of being forgotten once he was dead. Pepper and the others, well, they would just live on their lives. It was, after all, just the genius but neurotic Tony Stark who never let anyone come near him, least of all himself. Who not only wore a mask as Iron Man but hid his face behind his own ego as well. The wunderkind that hadn't achieved immortality.

Slowly, Tony went into one of the cubicles and locked the door before he sank down at the wall and leaned his head against the cold tiles, his face in his still wet hands.  
That was the truth, that and nothing else. He had failed. He hadn't held up his father's legacy because his morals had been a monkey wrench in the works. But at least he could die in the certainty to have found the 'right way' if any such thing really existed.  
But what did that help him now? People loved Iron Man but his memory would fade. There would be better ones.  
Tony tried to recall the pain that he had felt as the grenade hat hit him in Afghanistan. But all he felt was a strange emptiness, as if he got blinded, killed by that moment and couldn't call it back. Maybe Obadiha had been right and a piece of Stark had really been left on the battle field even beyond the terrorists. He had believed that he would be able to turn this terrible, fateful moment into something good. But now it was his own idea that destroyed him.  
Wasn't it always like that? The true geniuses all killed themselves, whether it was in a true physical way or through their ideas, through thoughts, pictures, illusions.  
Tony let his head sink and looked on his slender hands, clenched his fists and opened them again.  
He felt empty despite his temporary victory over Stern. Because what did it matter? In the past, he had designed and built weapons because he had believed to be able to make the world a better place with them. Now he didn't built them anymore because he had learned that this was the only way to help. He had become a superhero, an open book for the people. They could set their hopes in him and weren't let down. But in the not too distant future, a child would cry out in the Middle East, his father being shot in front of it's eyes and nobody would be there to help anymore. Because even though Iron Man had done something for mankind, he wasn't for eternity. Even if his memory lingered, a memory couldn't heal, save or challenge anyone.  
It was over. What could he do?  
To assign the job of Iron Man to somebody else? No, that wouldn't do. He couldn't trust anyone any longer. He was alone, so alone that it hurt more than the blurred images of Afghanistan, when he had traded in his old life for a magnet that saved his life, took, saved and took it.  
There was nothing he could do about it.  
For the first time, Tony Stark felt very little and understood that, sometimes, people dealt with him after all and he couldn't always act himself. He understood that it was over, that he would go and that there was no one who could do anything against it.  
Least of all he himself.

Pepper looked up to the Stern – that guy was truly a giant! – and her eyebrow twitched.  
"Well, he's surely not the only one here" she replied sarcastically.  
What did he want? Fraternise with the enemy? She would readily have admitted that, if he hadn't just tried to declare her boss as certifiably insane, she could have found him quite attractive. She liked dark haired men and Stern could probably be very charming if he wanted to be. At least the smile he had put on indicated that.  
She briefly glanced in the direction of the still besieged lavatories. She'd better not answer the question about Tony's ego. That was surely exploding right now.  
Her eyes returned to the Senator's face. Let's see what he's up to.  
Stern smiled openly and looked directly at the men's room's door. "I'm aware that you don't particularly like me." His gaze wandered back to her eyes and his smile got wider. "How long have you been working for your boss, Miss Potts? Surely you know him very well?"  
"I've been working for Mr Stark for more than ten years and I do believe that I know him fairly well by now. Why?"  
She spoke the last word in a sweet tone. He surely hadn't asked that just for the fun of it. He had a plan.  
"Then you can probably answer the question of why he hasn't kept his identity as Iron Man a secret. It would have spared him some trouble. Well, it's not like I enjoy making giving this treatise but" Stern made a well-places pause and looked down at Pepper "if he won't cooperate, he'll bring himself in danger. He's probably not even aware of that. As long as he's the only one in possession of the suit, there won't be just well-disposed institutions who'd like to have that technology. What if he fell into the hands of terrorists again? What he does is irresponsible. So why does he do it, Miss Potts? Why?"  
Pepper stiffened up. Although the Senator hadn't said anything else than what Pepper had repeatedly reproached Tony for but she just didn't like to hear these words out of the mouth of someone else.  
"Believe me, Senator, Tony knows exactly what he's doing and I'd much rather he controls this technology than seeing it in the hands of the military or of politicians."  
"Why?" Stern simply asked. "Why are you so sure Stark knows what he's doing?"  
"Just believe me, Sir, I know Mr Stark very well by now and I just _know_ that the suit – if it has to exist at all – is better off with him. He'd neither use it as a 'military advantage' nor does he have to worry about votes."  
Of course she still had to show the Senator some respect but her tone had markedly cooled down and she just impatiently wished to escape from this conversion one way or another. Even if that meant she had to deal with Tony's ego. But she was used to that after all.  
By the way, where was he?  
"Don't believe I'm a bad person just because I work for the government and would therefore be much happier if nobody had the suit; or the army had it in safe keeping. It's one thing to have the knowledge and build it and another to actually use it."  
Pepper's features softened a little. His smile was winning after all and maybe he really meant what he said. And at the end of the day, Tony didn't always get the best press – and rightly so – she knew that and therefore it was only understandable if he caused some doubts. Not everyone could know him as well as she did. But she knew that he had a heart.  
She had to hold back a smile at the remembrance.  
She nodded to the Senator. "I can understand you but just trust me when I tell you that it's for the best this way. And now please excuse me but I really should go back to work."  
Stern stayed behind and waited.  
The chance would come. Whatever way. Across country.

Tony didn't know how long he had been sitting next to the toilet and he wondered a little why nobody had come to see after him, to learn what he was doing.  
Because they don't care about you, Tony, a mean, cynical voice in the back of his mind whispered.  
Didn't they really?  
Tony was almost sure that Pepper felt _something_ for him even though he could drive her mad in regular intervals. But he didn't know how strong her feelings were or whether they had changed a lot since she knew that he was Iron Man.  
Melancholically, he recalled the moment at the party where he had almost kissed her. All these past months, he had asked himself who of them had actually halted the movement.  
He? Maybe he had gotten cold feet at the last moment. At any rate, he had still been her boss and she his assistant. He had had so many women over the years, they had come and gone, none had stayed. He used them like just another commodity and set them free when he was done with them. Never had he felt anything for any of them.  
If Tony was honest, he was afraid that Pepper could turn into one of them. That he got her and would lose all interest in her afterwards, just because he _could_ have her; that he dropped her and would break her heart. Pepper was different. She could stand up to him, she took care of him. But he was always wondering whether she just did it out of a sense of duty or whether was really more behind it. He wasn't sure.  
Had she even wanted to kiss him? Could she live with the tension between them but didn't want more? Or maybe she was tormented by the same fear: that she could end as one of those girls that Tony handled like at the conveyor belt at the airport.  
With nervous fingers, he felt for the little flask in his pocket which contained the sticky, black liquid that delayed the palladium's effects.  
Times change, Tony thought sarcastically as he unscrewed the lid and hastily gulped down some of it. A few weeks ago, you would have carried around Brandy or Southern Comfort in it.  
Now it was….plant stuff.  
Tony took out the poison detector and weighed it in his hand.  
What Pepper would say if she knew that he was dying?  
Would she be sad? Would she only care that she'd be unemployed?  
Would she even be? After all, he needed someone to take care of Stark Industries once he was…gone. And he didn't have anyone. It was exactly like he had confessed it to Pepper in one strange melancholy moment some time ago.  
She was the only one who had stayed with him. He would have liked to know the reason.  
Duty, money…or something else after all?  
Don't be silly, Tony. That's fitting, you get everything you want but the one thing you truly want, you'll never get.  
Maybe he should really make her the CEO of Stark Industries. She had been working long enough for him to know what it was all about and what to do to keep the firm running. She could take on responsibility and Tony was sure that she'd never turn over to the corrupt side as Obadiha had done.  
Very, very sure.  
If he could trust her with his life, he could surely trust her with the company.  
But could he also trust her with his secret?  
Tony wasn't sure how she would react. On the one hand, maybe she would have some attention and care for him. But he also didn't want her to act just out of pity. Or maybe she would just leave on the spot if she knew that he didn't have long to live anymore. Maybe it was to much stress for her to be with one who swayed between depressions and megalomania like a little pendulum in the wind. Tony didn't know it. He knew Pepper for so long now and he still didn't know. Tragic, Stark, very, very tragic.

Only now, Tony wondered how he should get out of the washing room.  
Certainly, the whole fleet of reporters would camp outside by now. Perhaps it would have been better if he had just flown home immediately.  
But that would have meant that he would have talked with Pepper first.  
And if he was honest, he was actually a little afraid of it. He had given the perfect show but whenever he stood in front of her he just wanted to tell her everything.  
But that was impossible. He was Iron Man and if people knew that he was dying, he wouldn't be a superhero anymore. Superheroes died in the fight or protecting their girl. He, however, would sit in his workshop and curse himself.  
It was only a short pain as he pressed his finger to the measuring instrument, he was almost used to it by now. Twenty-five.  
Very good. The value had sunk a little, another day that he would survive.  
Another day on which he would look into the mirror in the evening and would hate himself. Somehow.  
Without thinking, he wiped off his finger on his jacket and pensively stared at the opposite wall.  
Someone had scrawled "God grant me the strength to accept the things I can't change. And change them" in large letters on the tiles.  
Tony laughed.  
As if it were that simple.  
Change? The past shameful deeds his father and he had committed, he had tried to fight with Iron Man, tried to undo them. He knew that there were wounds he could not heal, no matter how much he struggled to close them.  
Undo them? Well…he didn't regret it one bit that he had become Iron Man even though it would cost his life. The superhero was just in correspondence with him. He was born to it, had only realised it very late.  
Better late than never.  
But the master plan would fail, to change everything that one couldn't change. He had failed Oadiha, Pepper and he would fail himself.

Pepper took out her cell phone, starting slowly into the direction of the reporters. She opened the phone and began talking just loudly enough so that the journalists nearest to her turned their heads.  
"Yes, Mr. Stark. How on Earth did you manage to get back to the jet?…Of course, Tony, I will come immediately, I…—" She pushed past two reporters towards the exit.  
"Excuse me,…yes, Tony….no, of course not…"  
She marched on and registered satisfied that the first journalists started following her. These people from the press really were like lemmings. She briskly walked on and just managed in time to slip into a ladies' restroom, near the building's entrance, before the reporters got wind of it. She waited a few moments; looked into her reflection in the mirror and slowly shook her head.  
What didn't she do for Tony all the time. And what did she get as a thank you?  
Well, it probably was already a show of gratitude if he didn't drag her off and made her into one of his sex kittens. Although he constantly teased her, nothing would probably shock him more than if she accepted on of his 'offers'.  
On the other hand, there was still that …incident at the party where they had almost kissed. Pepper spotted the telltale look of longing in her eyes and upbraided herself. Abruptly, she turned away from the mirror and carefully opened the door.  
As she peeked outside, she could fortunately see not a soul with a mike, a memo pad or a camera. Swiftly, she made her way back to the restroom in which she still assumed Tony to hide and hoped that she had indeed managed to lure all reporters away.

When she arrived, she really couldn't see anyone (that didn't belong there) and she was very relieved. She hesitated for a second and then pressed down the handle of the door signed with a hard to miss 'Gents'. Fortunately, there was no one to be seen in the anteroom with the washing basins (nor at the urinals) but one of the cubicles was occupied.  
"Come on, it wasn't _that_ bad that you have to hide in the toilet now." She said tauntingly and only hoped that it really was Tony sitting in there. The corner of her mouth twitched. Well, otherwise she'd startle some peeing delegate.  
The loud swearing that followed however sounded very much like Tony. Apparently he had just crashed into something.  
"Pepper" This is a _men_'s restroom!" his indignant voice sounded out of the cabin. "Or have you had some costly surgery done during your last vacation that I know nothing about?"  
Pepper heard how he unlocked the door.  
"I've only locked myself in so that my fans wouldn't run in my door. I really find it quite strange that none of them followed me and pushed his autograph card under the door."  
Pepper awaited her boss with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.  
"Admit it, you're only disappointed nobody did it. What a pretty superhero that you have to get saved by me! But now come on, the reporters think you're already in the jet."  
"Why should they do that? And sometimes, even superheroes have to be saved. That's why most of them get some annoying sidekick. Do I need one?"  
Pepper had to grin despite herself now.  
"Ah, you have your 'girl Friday'." Inwardly, she was amused at how relieved Tony looked even though he naturally tried to conceal that with his usual remarks. But he didn't look so well altogether. Well, he did still look good, but…oh damn it. Pepper forced her thoughts back into order and nodded prompting in the direction of the door before starting to move herself.  
Tony followed her.  
"Exactly, I don't need a sidekick. Two cooks would spoil the broth." He answered hoarsely.


	6. Chapter Five

**Chapter Five**

_T-37 days; 3 hours; 14 minutes_

Pepper and Tony made it to the jet unperturbed. Apparently, the reporters had given up by now, for which Pepper was very grateful. Tony had continued following her but hadn't said another word. As they entered the jet, the stewardesses were already waiting for them and greeted them friendly but Tony didn't even so much as glance at them but went straight towards the little couch situated at one end of the room and flopped down into it.  
„Back home without any further ado!" he ordered and the stewardesses looked slightly confused before heading out, probably to prepare a special board menu.  
Pepper looked at her boss, worried. That wasn't like his normal self. It seemed as if the hearing had troubled him more than she had guessed or he would ever have admitted.  
"If you want to, I could withdraw and leave you alone?" She let the question hang in the air somewhat uncertain and remained standing in the middle of the room.  
Tony studied her with tilted head.  
"A bottle red wine and two glasses. I've beaten the Senator!" he called after one of the still puzzled stewardesses, keeping his eyes fixed on Pepper.  
"No stay, it's okay. To save the world from false ideas about Iron Man is a bit exhausting."  
Pepper relaxed a little. That sounded more like the Tony she was used to. She smiled, nodded and walked over to one of the leather lounge chairs. She crossed her legs and smoothed her short grey skirt.  
"I'm afraid though we're going to hear from him again. Tony, I know, today you've gotten your victory but it's not over yet. I'm not even sure whether it ever will be." Pepper leaned back and sighed. Her gaze settled on her right hand which was still trying to stroke a stubborn crease out of the skirt. Once again she mused that it would have been better if Tony had never admitted to being Iron Man. Sometimes she thought that everything only revolved around that one thing, as if Iron Man had stolen her normal life. And Tony's probably too.

Tony hardly noticed the girl bringing the wine even though she kept wagging around in her forbidden short skirt as if her life was at stake.  
He observed how Pepper smoothed her skirt, a little line appearing between his dark eyebrows.  
Oh it will be over, Pepper. You have no idea how soon.  
"You're probably right. I also think we'll hear from Stern again. Unfortunately, the _really_ annoying sidekicks of the government have a tendency to do that. You just can't shake them off so easily."  
Now, sitting in his jet and having himself more or less under control once again, he no longer found it so difficult to thank her.  
"Thanks that you lured the journos away. If you want to apply for the job as sidekick...I think Iron Man wouldn't mind.  
Great, Tony, wrapping your thanks into a bad joke so that it won't stand out so much.  
Pepper looked up with a lopsided smile. "Don't mention it. After all, that's why you pay me all those many dollars for."  
Which was true, her salary was rather generous only that she had almost no free-time to enjoy it. Tony wondered why she even did the job. Surely she could have found a good position elsewhere. With a less annoying boss.  
"And wouldn't Rhodey be disappointed?" Pepper continued. "I think he hopes to get that job."  
Tony downed the first glass of red wine.  
"Yeah, Rhodey" Tony replied with half a grin. "I think, since he's written at least _one_ mean sentence about Iron Man in his report, he'll have to live with me giving the job to somebody else. Although I don't really think that Iron Man even needs a sidekick. He's got his alter ego after all, the genius Tony Stark. Ever heard of the guy?" He pushed the other glass with wine in Pepper's direction and leaned back. "They say that Stark is a big idiot."  
Pepper's eyebrow crawled upwards as she reached for the glass. "They do? I think I've never heard of him. Is he something like Iron Man's Mr. Hyde?" She put the glass to her lips and tried the liquid with a moderate sip.  
"More or less. Only that they sometimes forget who's Mr Hyde and who's Jekyll." Tony felt how the wine relaxed his muscles and made them feel heavy. All the better. If he couldn't get rid of the fact of his fainting fit, he might at least be able to repress it.  
"I think Iron Man really needs a break. And so do I."  
He leaned back and only half noticed how Pepper smiled slightly, went over to the little sitting group at the other end of the plane and took out her papers. Always working, no free-time.  
Maybe he didn't pay her enough after all.

Tony Stark had no idea how long he had been dozing but it couldn't have been that long since they were still flying when he woke up.  
He kept quiescent, half lying half sitting on the sofa and watched Pepper at the other end of the room out of half closed eyes. His head was heavy and he wasn't sure whether it was because of too much wine or too many thoughts. He was glad he couldn't remember his dream. He dreamt too many things lately which he would rather forget but most of the times he couldn't and just lay in bed awake with a pounding heart.  
As he lay there and saw Pepper leaning over her paperwork, a strange melancholy took hold of him. They had spent so much time working. She probably knew a lot about him, it was part of her job after all, but he hardly knew anything about her.  
"Let's just not fly home but make a detour to one of the holiday houses. Venice maybe. I really need some time to think."  
Pepper look up startled, she had been so immersed in her work that she was a little confused as he spoke into her thoughts so unexpectedly. She needed a moment before she turned towards him and looked at him with a serious expression. Her brow was knitted and her tone reproachful as she answered him:  
"Tony! You can't possibly just fly to Venice and run away from all of this. Even if the hearing went well enough, that's not our only problem by far and, you know, there's still Stark Industries."  
„Is there?" Tony, still half lying, reached for the glass of wine and tried to wash the stale taste of sleep from his tongue with a refill, emptying the bottle. He sank back, leaned his head sideways against the arm of the sofa and crossed his legs.  
"Just let's take one or two days off. The firm can handle that. As CEO I've got the right to give myself a holiday." He had difficulties raising his hand to push his hair back out of his face. He didn't feel refreshed by his little nap at all but rather as if caught somewhere between today and yesterday; if the sun hadn't still been shining through the jet's windows, he could just as well have slept through the whole night. Tony had lost all sense of time and closed his eyes for a moment, hoping it would clear the dizziness in his head.  
Pepper looked even more disapproving and her lips were pressed tightly together, forming a narrow line. "Well, if you really have to have a holiday now, go ahead. But maybe you should think about whether you're still interested in the company. Maybe a sleeping partner would be more to the superhero's liking? In any case, don't count on me in your holidays if you don't want the share price going down even more."  
Tony sat up so abruptly that the empty glass slipped out of his hand and rolled over the floor.  
"I can go on holiday whenever I want to. _Because_ I am Iron Man. And the company..." Tony paused and felt anger rising hotly into his head. "Well, to the devil with the company if the world's welfare is at stake. And that's automatically the case if Iron Man's welfare is at stake. I need a break. And if you don't want to come with me you can fly home and take care of business." Tony bent down to pick up the glass but he got dizzy. He gave up the attempt and glared at Pepper instead. "I wanted to suggest that you take over presidency any way. So why not right now?"  
He definitely hadn't planned to tell her the news like that but the words slipped from his tongue before he could really think about them.

Pepper's mouth opened involuntarily in surprise, a response on her lips that nevertheless escaped into nothingness even before Pepper could be quite sure what it had been.  
She had really known Tony for quite a long time now and he wasn't exactly always a sunshine with a well-balanced temperament but she had never seen him so furious. Why had he suddenly ceased to care for the company? It was his father's legacy after all – even if Tony had turned it around by 180° degrees. And...anyway, what was that supposed to mean that he had thought about making her CEO? He surely couldn't be serious! On the other hand, she almost was already deputy chief since it was mainly her who took care of the business ever since Obadiha was out of the game. She had indeed attempted to fill out Tony's place as well as she could to try and take some pressure of him. For which he had never actually thanked her by the way.  
All of a sudden she got frustrated and angry against her will. Angry with Tony, with the stupid grenade that had forced him to build this damn suit that had turned him into someone Pepper no longer knew.  
"I guess it really would be for the best seeing how well you take care of the company at the moment." Her words sounded biting and she did already regret them the next moment. It probably wasn't really easy for Tony but why did he always have to think of himself and never about how other people felt about it, how _she_ felt about it?  
"Really? Is that your opinion? Is there nothing more important than this damn company?" Tony was on his feet now, supported himself with one hand on the wall and made half a step towards Pepper. "Take over the firm if you really think I'm such a bad CEO. Go ahead, take it."  
Pepper stiffened up involuntarily as Tony suddenly got up and made a move towards her. Even though he didn't seem very stable on his legs, judging by the way he had to lean against the wall. Maybe he was just drunk and that was the reason for all his crazy talk? But..he hadn't even drunk that much wine and normally he could stomach much much more.  
Whatever, she felt her anger dissipating and got back to a more matter-of-fact temper. For the time being, it really seemed better if she took over the company and if he should get back to his normal self again...well, one would see about that.  
"As you wish, Tony. I will see to it when we're back home. Once you're back from your holiday, we can make it official."  
Maybe he would change his mind after all.

Tony wanted to hit himself. It hadn't been his intention to inform Pepper of his decision like this. He had planned it with some more...elegance, two glasses of Champagne maybe, festive music and a smile.  
Instead, he had gotten angry even though there hadn't been any real reason. The hearing had went well and for the moment, he was still allowed to be Iron Man and to live on his fate, forced upon him by that grenade. No, he really wanted to go on living it but he _didn't_ want to argue about it with Pepper.  
But what did the company matter to him? How should he care for business in the long run if he wouldn't be there to see what it came to?  
Anger had somehow sat in his throat and had pressed it together, had made it difficult for him to breathe and had squeezed the words out of him.  
Now he stood in front of her, the anger still like a lump in his throat, and understood with bitter satisfaction that he couldn't have done anything that would have pushed Pepper further away from him than what he had just done.  
Now he was only angry with himself. First he had thought about wanting to spend more time with her, flying to Venice with her, then she declined, he snubbed her and on top of that almost yelled at her.  
He was an idiot. The biggest idiot on Earth.  
"Okay." he said softly and shook his head almost dazed.  
"I think I'll freshen myself up a little before we get home."  
That he didn't intend to fly to Venice alone became apparent from his phrasing. Should Pepper think about that as she liked.


End file.
